


Ghosts of the past

by RedSuramow



Category: Creepypasta - Fandom, Marble Hornets, Slender Man Mythos, Slenderverse - Fandom
Genre: ADHD, Alex is a jerk, Angst, Anxiety Attacks, Anxiety Disorder, Bad Spelling & Grammar, Ben acts like a big brother, Canonical Character Death, Depression, EJ is just watching the bullshit from afar, Emotional Baggage, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, English is not my native language, Everyone Needs A Hug, Explicit Language, Family Feels, Fix-It, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Found Family, Hoodie and Masky are basically Toby's parents, Hurt/Comfort, I Tried, I finally decided what to do with this plot, I'm Bad At Titles, Jeff swears a lot, Laughing Jack is Hisoka, M/M, Memory Loss, Mental Institutions, Mind Control, Murder, My First Work in This Fandom, Mystery, No uploading schedule, Not Really Character Death, Panic Attacks, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slender is tired of this bullshit, So does Jack but mostly in his head, Stuttering, Temporary Character Death, There will be some mature themes later but I won't bother to write them now, This fic is an excuse for me to write fluff, Tim Wright needs a hug the most, Tourette's Syndrome, add, do people really read this?, eventually, everyone is fucked up, it's Jay and Alex, it's creepypasta what did u expect?, it's not as bad as it sounds, oh boi, ok here goes nothing, that one's Tim's, we'll get to that
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-16
Updated: 2019-08-07
Packaged: 2020-05-12 23:23:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,070
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19239187
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedSuramow/pseuds/RedSuramow
Summary: When a strange looking man shows up at the mansion's door demanding to speak to a certain "Tim", everyone's lives take a strange turn.orJay and Alex are alive and Jay comes searching for Tim while Alex wants revenge.orAn excuse for Jay to meet everyone.





	1. He just wanted to nap on the couch

**Author's Note:**

> This is the fanfiction I lounged to read but found nowhere.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A man is knocking insistently at the mansion's door. Jack and Jeff try to figure out what to do about it.

Jack was going to kill that mother fucker.

Besides the fact that it was late and pitch dark outside, he just didn't feel like dealing with stupid hikers that railed off too far from the road and ended up at the mansion's door. Not that _that_ happened often. The mansion _was_ protected by a fog making it almost impossible for the normal folk to see. There were, however, more open eyed people, usually the ones who underwent a tragedy. 

Like this mother fucker. 

They've been knocking for at least half an hour now and Jack was slowly losing his patience. Now. If this were any other day he would have just answered and killed the fucker but he'd just come back from a stupid mission that had lasted half a day and kept guard the night before. So it wasn't that hard to see why he would prefer laying on the couch until dinner was ready. 

Unfortunately, the intruder didn't seem to take the hint and after being ignored for half an hour and was still insisting with that nerve wrecking knocking!

And after all, why should he be the one to answer? Where in God's name were the others? Well, Ben was most likely cooped up in his room playing video games and since he didn't really need food to survive he could stay there for weeks before coming out, most likely at Slender's request. There was also Hoodie and Toby who still haven't come back from a job but besides those three there still were a handful of people who could answer the damn door.

Jack's train of thought was interrupted but a sudden silence. His shoulders tensed for a second and he switched positions raising himself on his elbows. Holding his breath he listened. 

Muffled swearing coming from upstairs.  
_Probably Ben's_

The sharpening of two knives  
_Definitely Jeff_

A sweet song sang by a little girl  
_Sally_

And finally, no knocking. 

Letting a sigh of relief escape him, Jack let himself fall into the embrace of the comfortable couch. _Finally... some peace and quiet_

He maybe had closed his eyes for about 10 seconds and he was already hypnotized by the beauty and calmness of the dream when an irritating voice destroyed any hope of having some rest. 

Apparently, after being ignored for so long, the intruder decided to persuade a different way of getting the locators' attention. 

"TIM!!" 

He started yelling.

Ok, that's it, that's enough, Jack had reached his limit point. Leaving the comfort of the living room couch, he dragged his feet to the front door. He's dealt with unwanted visitors before and decided that he will finish quick, maybe _maybe_ he'll be able to sleep for a couple of minutes.

He couldn't be more wrong. 

The first sign that this was not the case was the stranger's outfit. Instead of hiking equipment, the man was wearing the type of clothes that Jack believed he could find in the trash. _homeless person_ He decided after starting for a second. _Great_

The second thing he observed was the camera that was strapped to this man's chest. _homeless investigator even better_

Intrigued by the man's strange appearance, he decided to play with his prey a little.

"You have a death wish?" Jack leaned against the door frame, one eyebrow arched, the ghost of a tiny smile on his lips.

His words seemed to snap the man from some sort of trance. His blurry eyes cleared and seeing that the door had been open turned to look at Jack.

"Hello," He said, ignoring the question entirely, his voice a little hoarse from screaming. "Is Tim here?"

Third. This guy wasn't scared of him. After the betrayal, Jack had lived his life accepting the fact that all normal humans will find his appearance unsettling.

All normal humans except for _this_ fucker. His voice was a little shaky but that could be blamed on the anxiety of talking to a stranger. Maybe he didn't realise the situation he was in.

"There is no one by the name of Tim here," Jack finally managed to say, straightening himself so he would look more threatening.

The man's eyes widened slightly for a second but the look was quickly replaced by confusion.

"Please, I was told he was seen in this part of the forest." He started shifting from one leg to the other while trying to steal glances of the inside of the house.

Ok, that's it. This guy was insane and bearing no fear. That part made sense. The most plausible hypnotists was that the man was searching for a person named Tim that got lost in the woods and the shock from loosing someone drove him insane and therefore able to see the mansion. Jack had abstained from killing the intruder because he was intrigued by his lack of fear. Now that he knew the man was bonkers it made him...

_Boring._

Enough fun for today. But before he could kill the unfortunate soul, a voice raged behind him.

"Who the fuck is this guy?" 

Jeff. Of fucking course. He didn't hear the incisive knocking but he heard the conversation. Sighing deeply, he turned to face the murderer.

Jeff was the third to be hosted at the mansion, the firsts being Hoodie and Masky. The two's story was unknown by anyone except Slender himself and the only thing that was speculated was that they knew eatchother before they came in contact with the boss. Jeff's story however was in the best case, boring and predictable. He killed his parents because of some bullies and fled. The most intriguing aspect of the story was the scars. The two knife's cuts slashing the boy's cheeks creating an eternal smile. Of course they healed over time and now all that remained of the boy's past life were two white lines that reminded Jack of thunder bolts.

He was wearing some normal clothes for once, meaning that he just came from a job and the white hoodie was too bloodied for usage. He had his hair in a ponytail and was holding a small knife, the butcher kind. _Wonderful, I'll just let Jeff take care of the hobo._

"He's just an idiot who's looking for a guy lost in the forest." He stepped out of the doorway so Jeff could have a full view of the man.

He checked the man from head to toe with his eyes, an unimpressed look on his face and then looked over to Jack for permission. Jack took a step back as to not get his clothes bloody and nodded. Satisfied with the answer, he started walking towards the intruder, knife slightly raised. 

He stopped however when the man extended his hand as if for a hand shake. 

"Hi-" His eyes sparkled with new found hope. "-my name is Jay" 

Jeff's expression would have been hilarious if not for the action which had caused it. He turned to stare at Jack, who just shrugged in response and turned his eyes back on the man.

The man's.... Jay's expression did not change, not betraying any spark of fear. Instead he wore a loopy smile and hopeful eyes. _He's crazy_ Jack thought _Come on, kill him already_

Unfortunately, Jeff didn't seem to catch the hint and decided to shake Jay's hand instead. Jack facepalmed himself mentally. _idiot_

"I am looking for Tim Wright," Jay admitted when he let go of the other man's hand. "I was told he was seen in this part of the forest".

"And by who exactly were you told you'll find him here?" It was Jack's turn to ask. 

"The locals at the base of the mountain admitted that they saw a man that fit Tim's appearance"

"Well you're out of luck buddy cause he's not here. And even if he was around here at some point, he's most likely dead." With that Jack dragged his feet towards the couch. "Try not to get any blood on the carpet"

The last sentence snapped Jeff back to earth and holding his knife at chest level started approaching Jay.

"WAIT! He's tall- and, and has short brown hair! Sideburns too!" His screams went to deaf ears however and when Jeff finally grabbed his arm he screamed "HE WEARS A MASK" 

Jeff stoped suddenly and stared at Jay. 

"What did u say?" 

Jack turned around just as intrigued as his colleague

"Describe him again," he managed making Jay's smile return.

"He's tall and has shor-" 

"No, no." Jeff interrupted almost immediately. "The part about the mask"

"Well.. he wears a mask" Jay's eyes looked past the person in front of him as if recalling a distant memory. "But not always"

"How does the mask look like?"

The intruder opened his mouth to respond but was interrupted by an arm that had started crawling from his camera. Soon the arm was followed by a head and finally a body.

The two residents of the mansion who had seen the action a million times thought nothing of it. Instead, their eyes were locked on the stranger's face expectantly. Surely this would startle the man. To their surprise he remained calmed, if not intrigued by the green child that had appeared in front of him.

"Yo" was all Ben said after his dramatic entrance was completed. He too turned expectantly at the possessor of the camera. 

"Hello" After seeing the lack of reaction, the young boy threw a questioning look at the others. 

"What are you doing here?" Instead of answering, Jeff crossed his arms.

"What do you think asshole? I heard the commotion and came to see what is going on. Pretty sure everyone is going to be here any second now with your big mouth"

"You little shi-"

"His name is Jay." Jack interrupted loudly before the two boys would be at each other's throats "He's looking for someone named Tim" Ben nodded and turned his attention back to the intruder who's been watching the exchange quietly.

"Aaa, yes" He managed to say before a little girl carrying a teddy bear ran down the stairs and glued herself to Ben's leg. 

"I heard screaming, is everyone ok?" She asked, her voice muffled by the material of the boy's pants. 

"Everything is all right, Sally," he responded, picking her up. She was quickly followed by-

"TIM!" 

All heads snapped back to look at the forgotten man standing in the door frame. His eye's were wide and Jack could have swore he had tears forming in them. Then, one by one, everyone followed Jay's gaze to the new figure frozen in shock at the base of the stairs.


	2. Some Explanations Required

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Masky has some explaining to do.

They left their names behind when they crossed to the other side.

Jack thought that maybe it was symbolism for how the person they were before was dead and how they are reborn as killers.

Jeffrey Woods, Tobias Erin Rogers, Jackson Tyler Hammerson, were all dead and gone, in their place standing Jeff the killer, Ticci Toby and Eyeless Jack. Three senseless killers with no regards for the people they murdered. After all, why should they live normal lives when they couldn't. Why should they have families they loved and cherished. It wasn't fair!

Their nicknames came from different places. Some were nicknames from before, cruel ones however, given from bullies, others were what the news called the killer and some were for the sake of convenience.

And even so, they knew each other's real names. It was.. kinda like a tradition. A new person would join the mansion, Slender would gather everyone in the living room and introduce the newcomer, real name and all, but because Masky and Hoodie were the firsts to come, their names and backstories remained a mystery. It was technically forbidden to ask about one's past. They did it anyway, of course, but no matter how hard they tried neither of them would revile anything.

So of course when this Jay guy said he was looking for a man named Tim who wears a mask, Jack's mind thought of the easily irritable smoker who lives next door from him.

And  _of course_  when that theory had proven to be correct, Jack and the others stared shocked at the masked man... Masky, for convenience.

No one was moving and it felt like the whole room was holding it's breath. Jack turned his attention to Jay. The man, the same man who didn't bat an eye when a boy came out of his camera, was crying. He didn't seem to have notice that, however, and was still holding his breath. Eventually, he broke the silence.

"Tim?" His voice was small and cracked in the middle but it still manage to bring everyone back into reality. Masky took a step back and raised his arms a little. Behind the mask, Jack noticed that his eyes were glossy.

A small gasp coming from the doorstep made him turn his attention on the crying man again. His hand was on his mouth as if he just realized something terrible.

"Is it you, or..?"

The four witnesses didn't understand the implication of the question but turned to look at the masked man for an answer anyway.

The tension returned as he slowly reached for the mask and just as carefully took it of making everyone in the room gasp loudly at the gesture.

Jack had only seen him without the mask once.  
  
_It was about two months after he started living in the mansion and was sitting in the kitchen when Hoodie burst through the front doors carrying a the limp body of his partner. Usually, the two would treat each other's injuries if necessary after jobs. Jack quickly realized this was not the case. He jumped on his feet and followed Hoodie to Masky's room not before getting the medical equipment from his own._

_When he entered the injured man's room he was shocked to find him bare faced. His eyes were closed, mouth slightly open as he laid on the bed unconscious and Jack could have swore he was one of his victims with him being so normal looking. His thoughts were interrupted by a firm hand grabbing his arm._

_He turned to meet Hoodie, bare faced as well and even though he'd seen his face a couple of times before it still took him by surprise._

_"Thought it will help 'im breathe," the unfamiliar face said and Jack had a hard time matching the voice to it._

_He quickly regained his composure, however, and turned his attention to the bleeding man. The wounds weren't as serious as they looked, not needing surgery and a few stitches later Jack took off his gloves and collapsed on the couch next to Hoodie._

_"He'll be fine"_

_"Thanks a lot" was the only response he got. Hoodie was obviously in shock so he let him be, instead he looked over at Masky's face. After a few minutes when he was sure he'll remember the other man's features he got on his feet, retrieved any equipment and returned to his room._

His face looked different now. Instead of sickly pale, his skin was scarlet, almost fever like and his eyes, ones he'd seen without life countless of times after every mission, were now sparkling with tears and emotion.

But what really took him by surprise was his voice.

"It's me, Jay." It was small and calculated as if he didn't trust himself to speak louder. Jack was so used to the irritated tone Masky usually took when bossing them around that he didn't realise he was the one who spoke.

Jay apparently, _did_ cause soon after came his response.

"Good-" He was smiling now "I thought it maybe you were.." He inhaled deeply not breaking "Nevermind"

"I- I thought you died!" Masky yelled out of a sudden. "Alex shot you!"

All Jack could do was watch the exchange. Jeff, however, had other plans.

"Ok, will either of you dipshits care to illuminate us as to what is happening?"

"JEFF" Ben yelled outraged.

"What? Don't tell me you're not curious about Masky's secret boyfriend"

"It's not _that_  " Ben turned to look at Jeff while holding Sally with her head oh his shoulder. "I told you not to swear in front of Sally anymore!"

"Yeah, yeah," he grumbled turning around at Masky "But you still ow as an explanation!"

He sighed and put his mask back on. "All right-" He raised his head to face everyone "-let's sit down and I'll explain." He gestured with his hand and everyone followed him to the dining table. Sitting down, he took one last look at Jay and opened his mouth.

"WE'RE HOME!" Wait. That wasn't his voice. He looked in the direction of the door, just in time to see two new silhouettes enter through.

"We're dinner?" It was a young boy's voice. "We're, we- we are starving!" Behind him was a taller man dressed in a mustard hoodie.

"YOU!" What. Ok now Jack was completely confused.

Jay was on his feet, eyes sparkling with anger and finger pointed discriminatory at Hoodie. Jack couldn't see his face but the fact that he stoped dead in his tracks and had his hands raised to his chest weren't good signs and they gave him an idea of what kind of emotions the proxy was feeling.

"Jay, wait!" It was Masky's turn to jump to his feet, his tone a little more familiar to what he was used to.

Jay ignored him and instead he looked over at the younger boy who had gone to get himself something out of the fridge.

"And who are you?" If Toby heard, he didn't show any signs of it. He was completely enhanced in the task of making himself a sandwich while humming and smiling widely. "HEY!" The older man went and grabbed one of his hands.

"Don't-" The little girl from Ben's arms tried to warn him but it was too late. Toby dropped the knife he was holding and turned to look at the person who grabbed him and Jay felt like the room temperature dropped a few degrees with it. The smile on the boy's face had completely vanished being replaced by a blank expression, eyes dead and dangerous. Jay immediately dropped the arm and took two steps back arms raised so if he decided to attack he would be ready.

"It's ok, it's ok" Masky was at the boy's side immediately repeating the same words over and over and Jay noticed that he wasn't touching him.

"You shouldn't have done that" Ben shifted in his seat as to reassure Sally as well. "He doesn't like being touched" Jay nodded and took the seat across from Hoodie while remaining quiet.

After about three minutes, Toby's eyes regained their light and he stumbled forward into Masky's arms. "It ha- happened again, didn't-d -didn't it?" The older man nodded and guided Toby to the table. He thought for a moment, took off his mask and then looked over at Hoodie, before nodding again.

Hoodie took the hint and removed his own mask, his messy hair falling in his eyes. Jack took a moment to look at his face and the rare sight of his features before Jay shouted again.

"BRIAN?"

Ok. So names were important, and if this guy knew both of the proxies names then maybe he made the wright chose in not killing him. But who knows? Maybe he's more trouble then it's worth.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was originally going to be longer but I decided to stop here for the time being. I'll try to get chapter 3 out by the end of this week but no promises.


	3. Finally some Plot

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A part of the backstory is revealed and Jack is trying to make sense of it all.

Jack really wished this guy would stop screaming. 

He could already feel a headache forming from all the information and the questions he had, mix that with sleep deprivation and a man constantly yelling and you get the perfect migraine. 

Still, he had to focus. This Jay person not only knew Masky, but apparently new Hoodie as well. Tim and Brian he had said. It was hard to believe but judging by their reaction it was most likely true. 

Jack was still looking at Hoodie who, now bare faced, gave Jay a weak smile. In return, Jay could only stare back giving Jack the impression that he was more shocked by finding Hoodie then he was by Masky. 

" _You_ are totheark?" Jay turned to look at Masky "Did you know?" 

Masky shook his head "I found out after you-" He paused, his face twisting in realization "You _**died**_!"

Jay looked just as surprised by the statement as Masky, recently found Tim, was.

This was starting to make less and less sense. Were they or were they not friends before? Wasn't Jay the one that not 6 minutes earlier was accusing Hoodie or some unspeakable thing? Didn't he know who he was behind the ski mask like he'd known Masky? And how exactly _did_ he know the two? Who was "totheark"? And Jay was _**dead**_? All these questions flew through Jack's mind all at once making the already existing headache worse. He decided to ask Masky instead.

"Didn't you say you were going to explain some things?" 

"I believe I can help you with that" 

_Goddamit_. Honestly, he should have expected this. I mean Jay and the two proxies obviously had a history together and since Slender knew everything about his residents it was only natural that he knew about this too. Even so, Jack just wished they could stop being interrupted so that his questions would be answered. 

Unfortunately, Jack didn't have such luck and as Slenderman entered the kitchen, the last resident hot on his heels, he couldn't help but sigh miserably. _He really shouldn't have answered the door_.

While Slender remained on his feet, Laughing Jack gave a quick suggestive gesture in the direction of the guest and then stealthily regained his seat, the last one on the left size of the table, next to Jeff. 

The gesture went unnoticed of course, leading Jack to believe that in that moment the end of the world could come and it still wouldn't snap Jay out the trance he had fallen in. His was face pale and his eyes the size of onions, not even Jack's victims looked this terrified upon waking up and witnessing their organs being devoured right in front of them.

Man, Jack was hungry. And Jay didn't look all that bad himself and _maybe_ it was just his imagination but he could _feel_ his mouth water. How long had it been since he'd last eaten? 24 hours? Way too much anyway. His mind wasn't helping by giving him images of the man laid on this table, chest spilt open, his organs detached one by one, still hot with delicious blood soaking through the-

Jay jumped on his feet and, thankfully, didn't scream. Instead, he reached for his backpack and took out an orange bottle. Before anyone could react two pills were already traveling down the man's throat. 

Slender didn't seem surprised at the man's actions, unlike the rest of the table, and instead chose to settle things through a chat.

"Don't worry Mr. Jay Merrick" He approached slowly "If I wanted to harm you in any way you would be dead already" That was a surprise to no one.

Slenderman finally reached the table and sat at it's head, gesturing for Jay to do the same. After looking at Masky for approval he finally sat next to him at the far right side still face to face with Hoodie.

The host nodded and cleared his voice "All right. I do believe everyone is present?" His "eyes" darted around the room as if searching for any missing people. After he was sure everyone was here he began his explanation.

"I believe everyone has some questions" 

"Oh you bet your ass we do!" Jeff, of course. 

Ben didn't bother to cover Sally's ears this time, instead he eagerly agreed. 

Even if Slender was not fazed by the killer's words he addressed them nonetheless. "While I do admire your enthusiasm, Jeffery, all questions will be answered by the end of this dinner" Jeff's eye's lowered at the mentioning of his full name. 

" _As I was saying_ " He waited a moment as if he was expecting someone else to interrupt him "We should start from the beginning" another pause "Masky?" The man quickly raised his eyes to meet the empty sockets of Slender "Would you like to start?" He then fixated his eyes on Jay "Or shall we let our guest of honor begin?" 

Jack didn't expect him to return Slender's gaze, he didn't expect to see fire in those hatred filled eyes and he most certainly did _not_ expect him to agree. 

After the arrangement was done and all eyes were fixated on Jay, the story was finally ready to be revealed.

"Ok so a few years after I finished college my friend Alex gave me some taped of the unedited footage of a student film I played in called Marble Hornets"

"Wait, wait, wait" Ben raised his hand to ask a question. "Didn't Masky say that Alex supposedly killed you?" 

"Well.. yes, but actually no." _Wonderful_ "I'm getting to that but yes, it's the same Alex. So he gave me the tapes and pf course I had to go through them. But besides cringe acting and plotholes I found _him_ " His eyes fell on the host and he stoped talking as if he wanted Slender to continue.

"Ah yes" He finally said when he saw that all eyes were fixated on him. "I suppose I do owe you an explanation" he cleared his voice again and folded his hands on the table. "Well, as you all know-"

"Ah~, ah~, ah~, Slendy" LJ winked at the host. "You have to tell the others what you told me earlier, right?" This grin, if possible, widened "We all know I'm your favorite but you can't go around giving me special treatment now, could you?" 

Slender visibly shuddered at the clown's words but agreed nonetheless "As much as I hate to admit it, you're right."

"That I'm your favorite~" 

"No." A long sigh "I need to be open and honest about this" He then looked at Jay. "You're probably wondering why I stalked Alex all those years, am I correct?" He only continued after the man nodded. "The truth is.. Alex was my first experiment" His eyes lowered "and as all first experiments, it failed"

"The human mind is fragile and at the time I didn't know that, I pushed too hard and it broke. He is a mistake I did not repeat." 

"What did you wanted from him?" Hoodie asked playing with the ski mask.

"Isn't it obvious? I wanted a masked state" 

Jeff looked at Masky and then asked "Ok so you messed with this guy and drove him insane right?" A nod "So what's the big deal? It can't be the first person you drove to insanity, right?" 

"Under normal circumstances it wouldn't be but unfortunately he thought that the disease was contagious and not directly inflicted by me and so he started tampering with my other test subjects" 

"He means us" Masky admitted. "Jay, Brian and I"

"Yes, that is correct but fortunately the three of them had enough strength to overcome the first sociological symptoms and to successfully enter the masked state"

"Wait" Jay spoke up his eyes cloudy "you mean two, I never entered the masked state!" His voice was almost hysterical at the end reminding Jack of one of Toby's "episodes"

"Unfortunately, you are mistaken, all three of you were-"

" **NO** " Jay's head was in his hands now, teeth gritted and eyes wide. Yup. Definitely an episode. "But I never showed any signs!" 

"You have no memory loss whatsoever?" 

"I.. I, well yeah but I'd.. I" another symptom: slurred speech "I never woke up in the woods!" 

"That's because I made sure of that" Even Slender seemed to notice what was happening but at this point he was already past the point of no return. "You were weaker then Tim or Brian so I didn't make you do anything major and repeat the same mistake. That doesn't mean you didn't went through a masked phase."

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------  
Jay couldn't breathe. He was choking on fucking air and couldn't concentrate. He knew The Operator was still talking but all the noise in the room was drawn to the back of his mind, submerged in the annoying noise that didn't let him concentrate. What was that noise anyway? Oh yeah. It was him, choking. 

He stoped abruptly, eyes wide as if he'd just had a revelation. He pushed past the blurry silhouette of Masky and sat up. It took him exactly five seconds to comprehend what had happened and then he sat back down.

"I'm sorry for the interruption," he said, in his most, _I didn't just have a panic attack_ voice, "You can continue if you'd like" even he was surprised at how calm he sounded.

"Of course, if you feel well enough to continue" Slender raised an invisible eyebrow but continued anyway. "Like I said before, my first subject was Alex, followed closely by Brian, a little while later by Tim and then finally by Jay." 

A deep tension set over the room again as silence fell. The Marble Hornets crew kept eyeing eachother not knowing who would be the next to speak and everyone else was watching the silent conversation. No really! They were, a.. well, in their own way. Jeff was trying to ignore the creep who kept making moves on him while LJ was said creep. Toby was really invested in a small knife and kept turning it's point into his finger so see when he would draw blood and Sally crawled from her chair into Ben's lap but said boy was busy playing on a gameboy o pay her much attention. Ok, maybe EJ was watching the silent conversation with interest. This was his chance to learn the two proxies' stories for God's sake! 

Just as he thought he was going to have to speak up himself Masky cleared his throat.

"All right everybody, listen up!" He was using that bossy tone again, the one that everyone listened to in a situation of need. He wasn't second in command for nothing after all. "So Jay said that what he found on the tapes was Slender, right?" A couple of nods "At that time, we called him the operator so keep that in mind." Tim straightened and continued "Jay became paranoid after seeing him" He stoped for a bit when Jay murmured _for good reason_ "He started to post these _entries _on a youtube channel called "Marble Hornets", each entry talking about the progression of the investigation regarding the Operator, right?" He would stop from time to time so he could get Jay's nod of approval. "Each entry was followed by a response video from a channel called "totheark"__

__Toby put the knife down after he managed to draw a drop of blood. "The man called you totheark, didn't he Hoodie?"_ _

__"Well yes" Brian's eyes were warm in a way that surprised Jack. "But only for a while and even then I barely remember what kind of videos I made."_ _

__Jay's eyelid twitched along with the side of his mouth. "Oh, _I_ remember. Don't you Tim?"_ _

__"That's enough.."_ _

__"All the sleepless nights and- and puzzles we solved" His voice was dangerously angry again._ _

__"Jay, **enough**!" _ _

__Slender took this as a que to jump into the conversation "Besides, I can assure you that Hoodie's videos did not contain puzzles you would lose sleep over"_ _

__"Oh yeah? Then who make all the other videos?!"_ _

__Slender straightened his tie and thought for a moment "That I do not know"_ _

__\---------------------------------------------------------------  
The rest of the night was spend covering the major events that had taken place in the span of five years. At about two in the morning Sally fell asleep and they took a five minutes break in which Ben carried her to her room. A lot of memories were relived such as when Jay first discovered who Masky was or the chase in the forest, Jessica and her story and the house that was burned down. All that let to-_ _

__"You died" Tim whispered as if he had somehow forgotten. "You came to my house with zip locks and knife and I overpowered you and tied you up" His eyes were glossy again and his voice wasn't louder then a whisper. "Alex came and killed you." Slender looked like he wanted to intervene but Masky didn't stop. "I found Brian at an abandoned school and pushed him from a window." Brian reached out and took Tim's hands in his own, gesture which made the story teller feel a little better. "I fought Alex and I killed him too"_ _

__No one moved and no one breathed is was like they watched a movie unwind._ _

__"How- how are you alive?"_ _

__"I believe I can answer that"_ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I didn't know how to write LJ so I basically made him Hisoka. Also from now on I'll try to address Laughing Jack as LJ and Eyeless Jack as EJ.


	4. Some Questions Answered

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Tim has a few questions.

Tim was going to be sick.

The feeling overwhelmed him and he felt stupid for not being able to repress it. He's felt it countless of times before, after late night conversations with Brian that would always end up with one of them, or both, crying, in discussions with Toby about both of their medication and the difficulty of procuring it, at the sight of his victims bloody and dead before him and especially at the memory of Brian and Jay's death. The image of Jay's still body sitting in a puddle of his own blood was the nr 1 source for his nightmares, from which he would wake up trembling and crying in Brian's arms.

He wasn't in the kitchen anymore. He had transported in the abandoned school and was staring at Brian's dead body. _no no nonono_ he couldn't breathe or think so he did the next best thing, he ran. Alex was in front of him and then he wasn't. Tim was in a room he recognised but couldn't quite place from where. It was pure white and had three hospital beds placed inside. **oh** it was the mental hospital he was in all his childhood. He blinked and Alex was on the floor choking on his own blood and Tim had a knife in his hands and his hands were bloody and- and...

Breathe. _Breathe_

Warm hands closed around his own and Tim snapped back into reality. Brian was looking at him with sad eyes, the same look he'd give him every time he would blame himself for the death of his friends. He knew he had been talking but he couldn't remember what he said. His head hurt so much but he didn't want to retrieve his hands to rub his temples. 

 

"I believe I can answer that"

Could he really? 

"I'm sure you are aware of how I rescued Hoodie?" The question was addressed to him so he nodded. "The answer is really simple. I did the same for Jay and Alex." 

"And you didn't bother to tell us!?" Tim was surprised to find that Brian was the one who yelled. He never lost his temper and Tim could count on his fingers all the times his partner had raised his voice at anyone.

"It was uncertain whether Jay would survive and/or find us. It was a matter of time before we knew for sure and so I decided it was better if you found out yourselves." He cleared his throat. "Now, Jay, would you please tell us how did you find this place and what information you have on the whereabouts of Alex?" 

"Yeah, ah, sure" _great_ "I woke up about two years ago in a hospital in Colorado, remembering next to nothing about the events that took place a few months ago. The nurses told me that it was normal, that I had just woke up from a comma and that I would remember eventually. The funny thing is, I remembered enough to be panicked about it but not enough to know what to do. The only thing I could do in my mind at the time was to find Tim and continue the case but first I got the bright idea of searching for new videos on the channel. And good thing I did cause I discovered that I was deemed dead alongside Brian and Alex, but Tim was still alive and probably had answers so I set of to find him." He took a break to drink some water that was set in front of him sometime during the night.

"I tracked all murders that could have been committed by _the masked man_ or Masky and started making connections." Laughing bitterly he continued. "I turned thirty while being trapped by a snow storm in my car. Eventually the locals pointed me in this direction and I found the mansion. Online research helped too, of course" 

"As for Alex, I don't know anything about his current location. Hell, I didn't even know he was alive until today. Why did you save us in the first place?"

Apparently Jeff was feeling out of the action cause he choose to intervene before Slender could respond. "That seems kind of dumb doesn't it? I mean, you drive a guy crazy and then bring him back to life so what? What was the plan? Did you think he'll be grateful or something? If I had to guess, he'd probably be looking for revenge and trying to finish what he started three years ago. Stupid move Slendy" He was leaning in his chair, a smug expression on his face.

Tim smiled at Jay's reaction. The residents knew of Jeff's little habit of trying to piss off anyone and anything in a 20 meter radius and it seemed like tonight he had taken the difficult job of annoying Slender. Jay, of course, did not know of the killer's tendency and was completely dumbfounded at the idea that someone would talk to the entity that way. He was most definitely still scared and or scarred by the incidents that took place a few years ago. He didn't lie, he was still a little unsettled by Slender's presence sometimes himself but it was usually when he was very angry. Those rare moments were mostly cause by Zalgo, but the demon had been quiet for about two years now so he really doubted Slender would get enraged enough to show that side of him in front of Jay.

Thankfully, Tim was right, as usual. "Well, yes, thank you for your opinion Jeff" was the only remark he did after continuing. "Now where were we? Oh yes, you see Jay-" He straighten a bit- "After putting so much time and effort in your masked state I just couldn't abandon it. I gave you time to rest your psyche, three years of it! And now it is time to start your training to become one of my proxies." 

The last sentence was said with ease but Masky couldn't help but get chills down his spine. Three years he mourned and blamed himself for the death of his friends and now not only were they alive, but they were to become murders too? The thought was simply unimaginable. Like a dream. It didn't make sense but as a proxie, Tim learned not to do what was logical but rather what Slenderman told him. How could Jay become like that? Give away the last bit of humanity he had left and join them. No. It wasn't possible. 

And yet here he was. For the first time since Jay came, he notice the small portable camera strapped to the man's chest. Tim didn't try to hide his smile this time. _Some things never change_

"What about Alex?"

"What about him?"

"Well you said you had broken him. So if he isn't fit to become a proxie, then why help him too?"

Slender paused and pursed his imaginary lips. "I wanted to try again. Slower this time. I'm sure I can turn him too and determine him to become a proxie as well. Even if I am unable to awaken his masked state, there's always the option of killing him." 

The feeling of coldness seemed to love interrupting the awkward silences tonight. Fortunately, Slender clapped his hands together and broke it. "Now, we should discuss living arrangements."

"Living arrangements?" Jay hadn't gathered all the information yet, it seemed.

"Why, yes! There's an empty room upstairs next to Masky and Hoodie's room. That is-" His smile widened "-unless you want to sleep with the locals at the base of the mountain."

It almost sounded like a threat but Tim had better thinks to think about. Like, what the fuck was happening? Jay nodded.

"Oh Slendy" oh god, he almost forgotten LJ was still at the table "you aren't going to cheat on me with the newcomer are you?" 

Slenderman avoided the question entirely, deciding to instead finish off this little late night meeting. "Good. Then I expect to see you at breakfast. We'll talk about the rest of the arrangements then and until then everyone is dismissed, eat if you are hungry but remember to be at breakfast by 7. Someone will wake you up if necessary and Masky? If you are kind enough to show Jay to his room" 

"Of course, come Jay" The man shared a few passing good night's with Ben, EJ and Jeff before following Tim upstairs.

"It's the room with the white door" He pointed at the last door in the hallway. "Brian and I are right next door so if you need anything don't hesitate to knock at our door, no matter the hour, really. And if by any chance we don't respond, Jeff's room is that one. The common bathroom is the other white door but-" he stopped when he noticed that his friend could barely keep his eyes open and was dangerously close to collapsing. "Goodnight Jay," he finally said and entered through a brown door. 

The former intruder stumbled sluggishly to the pointed door and entered a medium sized room with only a bed, drawer and a desk with a chair. Making his way to the right corner of the room where the bed was positioned he threw himself, fully clothed in it and fell asleep in no more then two minutes.

In the slightly larger room, hidden behind the brown door, Tim was crying his heart out buried in Brian's chest, letting out all the shock, anger, betrayal, saddened and other emotions accumulated throughout the day.


	5. Can I please get a waffle?

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A healthy breakfast and some unhealthy talk.

The Operator **was** right, Jay thought as his eyelids slowly opened with much difficulty. Someone did come to wake him up.

Judging by the rays of sun that made their way into his new room, it was a beautiful day outside but his muscles still ached from yesterday's hike making Jay question his decision to stay up so late. Only that it wasn't his decision and he was currently being hosted in a mansion full of serial killers.

It was worth it. Tim was alive and well, and living next door in the same room as Brian but that didn't matter right now. After three long and hard years in which Jay turned thirty in a rusty car in a middle of a snow storm, was captured by savages in a rain forest and almost killed the president, he finally found him.

Before getting up he ran what happened last night through his head. His knocks were answered by a tall man wearing a blue mask making Jay's heart skip a beat before he realized he was not Tim. The man called another locator. Of course he'd been surprised by the scars on the boy's face, hearing stories was one thing but coming face to face with it was still unsettling. How old even has he? 18? Such a young age to be in this circumstances. Even so, he knew better then to stare so instead he greeted him with a handshake. He almost got killed. But what was new? Another young boy appeared, seemingly out of thin air or most likely out of his camera. Then a little girl. Jay made a note to ask Tim about it later. Speaking of Tim, he showed up next didn't he? Right, then ToTheArk, which turned out to be Brian, alive and well as well followed by another boy. He almost got killed, again, by said boy for stopping him make a sandwich. Wonderful.

The Operator was next and truthfully, Jay had expected it. He read the legends and heard stories of the creature by the name of Slenderman and knew he was entering the lion's den when he first gathered the courage to knock. Still. Seeing him there, looming over him transported Jay five years ago, when he was on the run alongside Tim, trying to survive long enough to unravel the mystery of ToTheArk. Ah the good old days, he missed fearing for his life every second of the day.

The Operator was followed by a **clown**? Jay really needed to ask Tim about the people living in this house. Anyway, they talked and retold the story of Marble Hornets. Well, him and Tim did with the occasional intermission from Brian or one of the other listeners at the table.

He was thankful when the conversation finally concluded at some point at the early hours of the morning and even if the host said breakfast was served at 7 sharp he still hoped he would sleep till noon.

No luck, it was like the universe was coming to bite him in the ass. Groaning loudly, the man shook off any remaining sleepiness and got up. Incredibly slowly, of course, hoping the idiot who's been knocking continuously for the past 5 minutes would take the hint and go wake up someone else.

Opening the door, he came face to face with the boy who almost killed him from last night. His face was blank not showing any hint of annoyance for being ignored. His eyes were glossy as if he was in another place entirely and Jay noticed he was standing is a rigid position, trembling slightly.

"Breakfast will be ready in half an hour," he said to no one in particular before turning around and going down the stairs. Even his voice was emotionless, like a robot, making Jay uneasy.

Still, turned to look at the area in which we spend the night. The room in itself was nice, comfortable, a little under decorated but he guessed that was up to him to fix. There was, however, a clock on the wall, showing that it was exactly 6:37 am, a reasonable hour to get up if you weren't Jay.

The clock was positioned at the left of a new door that Jay, in his sleep deprived self, did not notice last night. Pushing it open, he discovered a small bathroom, perfect for a person and seeing the shower made him remember how bad he actually smelled. He was tempted by a hot shower but he couldn't just jump back into his dirty clothes after he was finished. That would be counter productive.

And so he decided to investigate the closet. Now. Jay had some experience with closets in his early teens so he knew usually they had clothes in them. That didn't mean he wasn't surprised when he saw that there were, in fact, articles of clothing in _this_ particular closet. It was filled to the brim with clothes of all kinds, from skirts to spiky jackets. There were, also, all the sizes.

Not wanting to spend an hour picking an outfit he settled on a white T-shirt and a pair of blue jeans. Putting them on he realized the shirt was a bit large and the pants itched but he was still extremely thankful for the first shower in what felt like months and some clean clothes.

After deciding that he wasn't going to spend the remaining fifteen minutes until breakfast in the room staring at the walls, he strapped the camera onto his chest and adventured outside. For like, two seconds, before hurrying back into the room. Tim and the guy who opened the door yesterday were standing at the top of the staircase talking in low voces and Jay noticed the quick flashes of concern that appeared on his friend's face at the other man's words. Pressing his shaky hands onto the half opened door, he tried to calm his breathing and heart beat in hope of catching some of the conversation. A thought flickered through his mind for a second. Why was he hiding? He should just go up to them and ask what was happening. The thought was immediately replaced with an image of the sandwich-boy from last night. Shaking his head and blinking a few times, Jay finally managed to calm himself enough to eavesdrop. To no use, unfortunately, because judging by the lack of juicy secrets and light footsteps going down the stairs, the conversation was over.

Defeated, the man finally exited the room and came face to face with the remaining gossiper. Not **all** gods were angry with him today because luckily it was Tim and not the blue-masked man.

Today, he was wearing his mask but at the slight of him he quickly repositioned it on top of his head, making Jay feel much more comfortable in his presence. The feeling was short lived, however, considering the state, his friend was in.

Quite honestly, Tim looked like shit. His hair was unkempt and clearly not brushed for one and even though Jay had noticed the bags from under his eyes the night before, they looked even more aggressive in the morning's light. Their eyes met and he felt like he was punched in the gut.

Tim's eyes were exhausted.

Even after countless sleepless nights and liters of caffeine, Jay never saw his friend's eyes look like that. Among the sadness there was something else, an emotion he couldn't quite pin down.

"Good morning, Jay" _Ah they are melancholic_

Despite every single coherent thought screaming at him, he tried to smile for Tim's sake. "Good morning. You look like shit."

Tim snorted and a small but real smile formed on his face. "Thanks, nice clothes."

The remark made Jay look down at the articles he was currently wearing, having forgotten all about them. "Yeah.." He considered for a moment before saying, "The closet was filled with clothes, how did-"

"How did Slender know you were coming?" Jay nodded. "Honestly, I don't think he did."

"But-"

"Slender makes sure there's always a spare room ready with everything in case a newcomer joins the mansion, that includes clothes." When Jay didn't say anything, Tim continued. "Not that anyone uses them"

"What?"

"Everyone here has a set of clothes they wear everyday, and backups when said clothes are dirty. We have other clothes, of course!" He quickly added seeing the man's confused look, "what you you saw Jeff wearing the other day, the guy with long black hair, was not what he usually wears. You'll probably see him with a white or gray hoodie. Or how Ben, kid with blonde hair, wears that green costume all the time."

"I think I got you, still feels weird to me to only wear one thing." Awkward silence ensured.

"So, couldn't sleep last night?" Jay leaned against the gray wall of the hall.

"Actually, Tody couldn't sleep. I should have known that a newcomer would make him stressed but he was very agitated. You really scared him last night."

It took Jay a moment to understand who Tody was, but the second he did, he took a defensive stance. " _ **I** _scared him?! He almost fucking killed me!"

"It was your mistake for grabbing him like that! How else did you think he was going to react?"

"Oh, I don't know.. Maybe like a normal human being and **not** a fucking psychopath!"

Tim pursed his lips in a thin line and furrowed his brows. Eventually his features softened and he sighed defeated.

"He's not a psychopath but I get it. You didn't-" He paused mouth hanging open for a second too long before closing again.

Great. Yet another mystery added to the on growing list.

Tim must have sensed his question or maybe it was his facial expression because he added, "I'll explain everything after breakfast"

"Thank goodness."

\-------------------------------------------------------------------

The meal was, in retrospect, delicious.

Jay was taken back a little when he came face to face with Brian, in full costume (thankfully not wearing a "Kiss the Cook apron"), humming happily while making scrambled eggs with beacon, a room full of hungry housemates waiting impatiently.

Masky, however, didn't seem surprised at all and led this friend to one of the empty chairs at the almost full table.

Truthfully, the room _did_ quiet down a bit at his entrance but the murmuring only lasted a few seconds before the loud chit chat began once again, just a tad more cautious.

Instead of joining some conversation about the latest job, Jay scanned the room talking in all the information available.

The first thing that caught his eye was the fact that the long haired boy _was_ indeed wearing a white hoodie today, Tim called him Jeff? He was also talking, or at least trying to talk to the other boy in the green- ah.. Ben. It wasn't much of a conversation really, since the latter was far more interested by the gameboy in his hand then by anything the former was saying. Next the the distracted boy sat the very young girl and Jay was still trying to process why such a young child would live in this crazy house. She was playing with something under the table and from time to time would turn to speak with the person to her right, the clown.

He too, was wearing the same costume and Jay tried very hard to remember if Tim, or anyone else, ever said his name. After coming to the conclusion that his name will remain a mystery for a little while longer he moved his eyes to the next person. The psycho- aah.. **cough** Toby was sitting on the second chair from the end, right next to Tim, letting the first chair unoccupied. Before Jay entered the kitchen, the boy's voice could be heard from the top of the stairs but now he was quiet and glaring daggers into him empty plate. The slight tremor and sudden spasms that occasionally struck him body made Jay more then a little uneasy so he promptly turned to look at the person sitting at Tim's left and the person who was been staring at him the entirety of this not yet started breakfast, the blue masked guy.

Much to Jay's surprise when he caught the man right in the act, he didn't flinch or break eye contact. Instead he held his gaze and even narrow his eyes a little. Maybe in some other circumstances, he would have been the one to back down but this guy almost killed him yesterday and Jay really wanted to show that he wasn't afraid of him.

"The name's Jack" weird, silence.

"I realized I hadn't introduced myself." He broke eye contact. "My name is Jack but you can call me EJ for short."

"Nice to meet you, my name is Jay"

"Yeah, I-aah -I know"

The others abandoned any boring conversation they were previously having and took the chance to introduce themselves.

"You can call me Jeff"

"My name's Sally"

"I'm Ben"

"And **I'm** Laughing Jack but you can call me LJ~"

While all these mumbled introductions were taking place, Brian found the opportunity to place the food in everyone's plates and soon they were all devouring it. When that job was done, he flopped on the empty seat next to Toby and started eating as well.

The silence only lasted for a couple of bites because soon a new conversation sparked up.

"Where is The Operator?" There had to be a better way of asking it but Jay had never been one to beat around the bush.

A few people were about to respond but Tim beat them to it. "Unfortunately, some things showed up so he is busy at the moment."

" _Some things_ means more work for us" Jeff chimed in after finishing his eggs.

Masky sighed but nodded nonetheless.

"Is it... aah... you-know-who?" Was Sally talking about Voldemort?

"No" It was Jack this time, setting his fork down. "There were no signs that **he** was involved." Jay fought the urge to ask what in the world they were talking about, instead deciding he would just pay attention.

"Well if you ask me-" LJ gestured dramatically earning a few "we didn't" "-I think out little newcomer wanted to settle the details of his stay. Isn't that right?"

"Yes"

"I'll take Jay to Slender's office after we finish eating" And with that Masky concluded the conversation.


	6. Jay is just a little bit more confused then he was before

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Jay finally settles some things with The Operator .

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is finally out! *confetti noise* After a severe writing block and a 2 week vacation with no internet I finally managed to post this. It's a little longer but not by much, still, enjoy!

****

He wasn't scared.

No, really! "Scared" by definition meant "thrown into a state of shock" or "frightened" and Jay was feeling neither of these. He just.. preferred prancing around the hallway over actually knocking on the tall wooden door that led to The Operator's office.

The rest of breakfast went by surprisingly casual, even with him present. The only person that actually looked bothered by his presence was that Toby kid, who decided that instead of eating and chit chating like a normal person, he would stick very closely to either Tim or Brian and would avoid eye contact with not only him but with anybody in the room. Jay was quickly learning that the boy had a hard time with the whole "normal person" deal.

Fortunately, before leading him to the office, Tim took a few minutes to explain his situation. So now, Jay was also feeling guilty on top of the tight knot in his stomach. He had expected some sort of disability considering the boy's behavior but even so, he could have been a little more patient with him. He also regretted some of the things he said.

Sighing deeply, he finally brought himself to knock on the door. No answer. _Great_

He knocked again, harder this time. No answer. He knew this game and he could do it again. Smirking slightly, he straightened himself a bit and knocked loudly on the damn door.

Before he could be a little shit and knock until someone would notice the noise, a voice ranged in his head sending chills down his spine, "Please do come in."

Having lost all the confidence from before Jay hesitated a moment freezing dead in his tracks before slowly pushing the door open.

Truthfully, he had no idea what he was expecting. Maybe some severed heads or a few corpses lying around, at least a couple of organs which he discovered in the fridge last night when he got up for some water. Any of the above, he wouldn't have questioned but the strangest thing was that the office was perfectly normal. Overly normal even, complete with some _family photos_. Oh, and also, very much Operator-free, well, save for the family photos which intrigued him to no end.

After visibly relaxing at the obvious absence of the supernatural being, Jay took in the sight before him.

It was a medium sized antique looking room, the wine colored walls almost giving him a headache. The furniture, however, reminding Jay of the Victorian English one he once saw in a museum when he was younger. But the one thing that draw your eyes when you entered was a gigantic dark table with chairs, on which there was nailed on a map of the entire aria surrounding the mansion, including a couple of other, more distant states, a few places being circled or crossed out. On to it, there were a couple smaller maps of more distant places like Belgium or Israel. There were as many chairs as there were downstairs, in the kitchen, giving Jay the impression that the meetings concerning the "missions" or "jobs" as the others would call them, took place here.

He abandoned the maps in favour of finally examining the photographs. A few were scattered on the walls, showing different unknown faces, similar to The Operator's, but the majority were placed on a desk in the right corner of the room. They were seven at number and seemed to have been taken as new people joined the mansion.

The very first, on the far left was taken in a forest. It was hard to tell whether it was the one that covered the mountain or another but it was strikingly similar to the one in which he had his first interactions with The Operator. Speaking of him, he was present in the photograph, standing tall and stoic, eye sockets fixated on the camera. Next to him, one on the left and the other on the right were Masky and Hoodie respectively, unmasked, wearing the same stoic expressions. The former was standing a little far from the host, as if the his very presence was making him uncomfortable, the sadness in his eyes filling Jay's heart with sorrow. The later was in a wheelchair. _Even with all the power, The Operator couldn't completely heal Brian's back, huh_. After all, _he_ had been in a come for a couple of months before starting his search for Tim so the whole "bring back from the dead" deal to a toll on the body as well. _Maybe Alex was still recovering?_

With that thought in mind he moved on to the next picture. This one had Jeff in it as well but instead of the white scars, the lower half of his face was covered in bandages. He was sitting straight, between Masky and The Operator lacking the hesitation Tim had shown in the first photo, seeming almost relaxed. The only difference from present Jeff was the shorter hair, which was about shoulder length at the time. The other three hadn't changed in the slightest with the exception that they were both wearing the masks.

The next one to join was that guy, eyeless Jack, as shown in the third picture. He was sitting on The Operator's right, between him and Brian, who had finally lost the wheelchair. Jeff's hair was a bit over his shoulders but the bandages were still in their place.

Next up was the blonde kid, Jay couldn't remember his name. Because if his height, he was sitting in front of the host, his childish features completely contradicting his eyes. He couldn't pin down what emotion they showed, maybe a bit of confusion? It was hard to tell. He put down the photo and picked up the next.

_Ah_ It was the boy. With Toby's arrival the established positions were completely discarded. The Operator was the only one remaining in the middle, stoic, staring into Jay's soul. On his left, surprisingly close to him, was Tim, mask on his face, hand on Toby's shoulder. The boy was placed between Tim and Brian, who had also kept his mask on. On the right, were Jeff and the blond kid, looking a bit uncomfortable. Jeff's bandages were gone, leaving behind two red angry lines.

The second to last was Sally, the little girl. She was being held by the blond like a toddler, even if she must have been at least 7 at the time. Weird. Speaking of weird, the boy didn't look a day older unlike Jeff, whose features were becoming a little more defined.

Lastly, the picture on the far right must have been taken recently because Jeff's scars had fully healed and his hair was almost as long as it was in the present day. The new guy, LJ? Yeah, he was positioned between Jeff and Ah! _His name is Ben!_ Anyway, LJ was joyfully grabbing both of the into a side hug, neither seeming very happy about it.

Jay let go of the picture, and took a step back to see the whole picture and well.. mostly Tim. He noticed how the only picture in which he wasn't wearing the mask was the first one or how over the years he got closer and closer to The Operator. It was still alien to him how Tim could end up trusting the same person who tortured and tormented him only a few years ago. He didn't know, but he was going to find out.

"How may I help you?"

Jay was not scared. _Anxious_ was a better word for it.

"Hello, aah, sir?" The last part came out more like a question but he could have sworn The Operator was smiling.

"There is no need for that" he waved his hand a little as to strengthen the argument. "I see you saw the pictures."

"Ahm, yes" _God_ Why was he so scared?

"We will have to arrange a day in the near future to take another"

" **Sir** " Oh no, that came out louder then intended. Shit. Ok, deep breaths, calm down. "Last night you said that we will sort out the details at breakfast but-" he stoped at the sight of the host's raised hand.

"Yes, I apologize for my absence but unfortunately something of grave concern was brought to my attention this morning and I had to meet up with some associates but now that you are here we can finally sort things out." Jay couldn't sustain eye contact choosing to look anywhere but at The Operator instead. "Please, do take a seat" he gestured to the map table. "I apologize for the mess, everything was so last minute."

"It's ok," Jay interrupted without thinking as he sat down.

"All right then-" in a second he was at the other end of the table "-let's begin, shall we?"

He nodded 

"First things first, is the room I assigned you satisfactory? I see you have found some somewhat fitting clothes but even so, soon you'll be able to go buy something you can call your own" The man left no time for Jay to process what he had said let alone time for an actual answer before continuing. "I always leave a room prepared for a new guest but now that you've arrived we'll have to move everything in the room downstairs-"

The Operator kept on talking but Jay had a hard time concentrating on processing the noise he still heard. Was he underwater? No. He probably wasn't, which _probably_ meant he was having a panic attack. Wonderful. As Jay's body was struggling to breathe and not fucking die, his mind was was as calm as.. well- a calm sea. He'd had panic attacks all his life and while sometimes annoying, Jay had learned how to deal with them. Or, maybe not _deal_ exactly but to detach his thoughts from his body in order to think clearly on what to do next.

_Breathe_. He thought and waited. Nothing happened. His mind was still far away and as much as Jay liked staying in this bliss of ignorance, he had to ground himself in reality for his body to listen. _Man_ He really hated this part. _Alright, here goes nothing._

He first tried to open his eyes, only to find that they weighed approximately 700 tones and burned like someone had put a ghost pepper in them. That was the first feeling, next came absolutely everything else at once, and Jay was 80% positive someone just soaked him in cold water or maybe that was just his sweat.

Even with his overly blurred vision, he can make out the fact that he in currently on the floor, on one of his sides. In front of him, offering him a pill and some water stands The Operator, face surprisingly calm.

Jay tries to calm his breathing for a while, _in, out, in, out_ until he's confident enough he won't pass out, then reaches for the pill. In retrospect, that was a pretty dumb move, he would later conclude. He didn't know what the pill even was. For all he knew it could have been some sort of poison or a mind control device. Still, in the heat of the moment his mind came to the conclusion that "pill=no panic", which, yeah, _was_ dumb. 

He, somehow managed not to choke on the water and instantly felt better. In a few minutes he was back on his feet, left with nothing to do but avoid The Operator's gaze.

"What was in that pill?"

"It was a SNRI. Most of the proxies use them from time to time, as a result of panic attacks."

"But I-" His mouth felt dry "I felt better almost immediately"

"Yes, the placebo effect." _God_ , how could he be so calm? "Even so, It should help you in the long run. We usually get medication one a month but I'll send someone tomorrow to get you a dosage."

Jay nodded.

"Should we postpone this meeting for another time?"

"NO!", he quickly responded, taking his seat one more time. "I'm sorry"

"Panic attacks are nothing to be sorry about"

"No I-", he tried to sound confident while he spoke "It's just, this is still very confusion for me. I mean, I've spend a lot of time looking for Tim and searching for answers but I never really thought about what happened when I _actually_ found him. Maybe that's because I thought I'd never find him or-"he sighed"-I don't know..."

He waited for the host to say something, anything, but his words were met with silence he continued, "I don't fully understand your motives, and I definitely don't trust you but I do trust Tim and _he_ seems to trust you to some extent. That's why I'll listen to you and go through with your little plans. Still, I don't believe Alex will be as understanding as me."

He didn't mean it but it sounded like a threat. _Good_

"I understand", Was the only response he got.

They stayed in silence for a minute.

"Can we, ugh-, get over the details" "please", he added a little quieter.

"Of course" _thank god_ "First on the list is your training"

"Training?"

"Yes, as my proxie you will be send to fulfil mission outside. To avoid injury while doing so, everyone has to learn advanced self defense and how to wield a weapon. Tell me, have you ever killed someone?"

Jay was trying to absorb as much information as he could that was coming out of this man's- ugh, mouth? But the question took him by surprise. _No_ was his immediate thought _but you could have_ was the quick follow up. _Remember the time you and Alex were attacked by Masky and had successfully pinned him down? Alex asked for the knife. He was going to kill Mas- no, he was going to kill Tim. It would have been so easy to do it right then and there. **Stop**_

"No."

"I see. The physical training will be thought by Jack and Toby. As for the weapon related one, I suppose you could do it with Masky and Jeff. They'll help you choose what you want to use."

"All right"

"There's also your masked state training" Just as he was about to speak up, the host silenced him with a raise of his hand. "It will be done 3 times a week: Monday, Thursday and Saturday after dinner. You will come straight to my office and train your mind for 1 hour."

Jay didn't question the man's word, instead deciding to add a bullet point to the steadily growing "Ask Tim" list.

"Jay, I know this can be a little overwhelming but I can assure you, you'll fit right in with everybody else." _a group of bat shit crazy freaks,_ he didn't say.

"Sir-" _should he ask?_ "-if I'm not intruding, what business did you have to attend this morning?" His lack of thinking will get his killed one day. "At breakfast Sally mentioned someone called **_You-Know-Who_**?"

"Unfortunately, nothing is clear yet for me neither but all I can say is that some old forces started moving again. But at the moment everything is under control."

With one last nod, Jay found himself on the long hallway of the second floor. What was he supposed to do for the rest of the day?


End file.
